I need a hat, a chain for my wallet & a can of snuff.

Today's load is a preload for someone heading to Arkansas. I wish it were me. Today's hourly for me since it's local. I hope to have a 2nd load of something today just to get in some more hours.

This load is being pushed in the external valve rather than being loaded through the dome. I don't think it will take too long as it sounds like the pump is pushing pretty fast. To do this type of load procedure the dome lid has to be propped open to relieve the pressure that would build as the product enters the tank. I can't imagine what it would be like if that step was overlooked. A huge mess and a wrecked tanker would be my guess.

Today's fun tanker fact.....

I mentioned the external valve a little earlier. There is another valve that is internal to the tanker. Primarily as a safeguard in case of rollover. If only the external valve existed, the rollover would likely tear that connection off the tanker allowing for the product to be spilled causing unknown results. The internal valve couldn't be separated from the tank in that same situation. Because there are two valves, both have to be open in order to offload. The external valve is opened with the turn of a wheel. The internal is opened with the user of hydrolics. Similar to a car jack. A handle is pumped allowing for the internal valve to be forced opened. The internal valve is held shut by a heavy spring. The valve itself resembles the push stopper drain on a bath tub.

Work calls. More on valves at a later time.
 
It sounds as if your being low man on the totem pole means you get the grease drippings from the steak on the grill. Is that some sort of seniority thing?
 
Whizzer said:
It sounds as if your being low man on the totem pole means you get the grease drippings from the steak on the grill. Is that some sort of seniority thing?
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No, there's somewhat of a probation period especially for someone new to the seat like me. When I switch more over to a system driver there'll be more miles.
 
Got a 2nd preload. Doing it now.. Looks like I may be heading to Canada tomorrow. I'll know more shortly.
 
Whizzer said:
It sounds as if your being low man on the totem pole means you get the grease drippings from the steak on the grill. Is that some sort of seniority thing?
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Preloads really aren't all that bad though. It's hourly pay and all local. Just a lot of sitting around rather than driving.
 
Since I have time, a little more on the internal & external valves. The internal valve can be quickly shut should a problem arise. There is a lever that quickly releases the pressure of the open valve instantaneously closing it. It's important that the operator while offloading stays in close proximity to this control lever should anything occur. If there were too be a leak or any cause for product to be released other than where intended the product flow can cease immediately. Unfortunately, the lever is normally right next to the external valve. Should a leak occur at that point to the extent that you can't safely reach that lever, a backup plan is in place. There is a emergency pressure release in the left front corner of a chemical tanker. It's far away from where the leak would most likely occur. When pulled it locks the internal valve in the closed position not allowing product to escape.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Headed to New Jersey today. Offload tomorrow. Reserved a parking spot at a truck stop just over the border. Last stop before my destination. $13 for the night. Will be reimbursed by my company. Someday, I'm guessing they'll make all of the truck stop spots only available for a fee.
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Aside from parking do you get any perks for the $13? Does that include free showers, WiFi, laundry machines, lounge etc. Do the trucks have WiFi on board or is mobile data preferred?

Do any of the truckers ever stop at a planet fitness, or the Y. I know it would be impossible for parking in many cases. But a few of the planet fitness locations share a Wal Mart parking lot.
I am just wondering if you have many options during an extended lay over?
 
Greg said:
Aside from parking do you get any perks for the $13? Does that include free showers, WiFi, laundry machines, lounge etc. Do the trucks have WiFi on board or is mobile data preferred?

Do any of the truckers ever stop at a planet fitness, or the Y. I know it would be impossible for parking in many cases. But a few of the planet fitness locations share a Wal Mart parking lot.
I am just wondering if you have many options during an extended lay over?
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Good question. I really didn't ask what perks might be available. They did hand me a $2 off coupon for their breakfast buffet if you call that a perk?

I normally frequent Pilot/Flying J's. I use my Rewards Card when I make fuel, food, misc purchases. That earns me points. I can then use the points towards various things. Because of the amount of fuel I go through, I've earned many points. Also, for every X gallons, I earn free showers. I think I've got about 10 free showers in my account. Same with coffee, snacks and the like.

Most places have free Wi-Fi but they also offer premium connections for some price. I have unlimited data and the speed send like it's enough to watch Netflix and the like. I thought about seeing what their service costs so that I might bring my firestick to stream television. Right now it's either Netflix, Amazon or Hulu over the phone or terrestrial over the antenna. I can only guess that some trucking companies provide a data connection for their drivers. Mine company doesn't.

I'm not sure about other truckers and their workout routine but taking part in people watching, I occasionally see other truckers that walk, run, bike or do general stretching working out. I walk when I can but damn it's hot out there sometimes. Many truck stops have a exercise room to work out in.

For extended layovers I can check into a hotel and take advantage of everything they have to offer. Hotel costs are reimbursed in full.

Walmarts are not always as friendly as you think. Many will not let you overnight park and some won't let you even pull in to shop..... Even when bobtailing. One, close to our Chicago terminal, will call the cops if you pull in their lot. It really kinda sucks when you have to replenish supplies. While you can get many of the same things at a truck stop, you pay a premium.

I think it's a pretty common thing to look down on truckers. We're always in your way, slowing you down. We may not have shaved in a day or two, etc..... It really doesn't bother me too much but it is kinda funny. If it weren't for the millions of men and women truckers doing what they're doing everyday to get everyone what they need or want, where would we all be?
 
Loading right now for a trip north to Canada. After I finish loading I have to go back to my terminal to pick up all of the paperwork for me to cross the border. It'll be the first time in a commercial truck for me so I don't know what to expect. I hear it's a helluva lot easier to cross to the north than it is to come home. And please, no need to invoke other border talk here. The podium has many threads on that topic.

I've got a parking spot reserved about 30 minutes from my delivery point. It's nice having the peace of mind knowing I've got a place waiting for me. Reduces much of the stress of worrying about a place to call home for an evening.
 
WOW!! Being a truck driver involves a whole lot more than simply sitting behind the wheel and stepping on the throttle. Thank you for explaining about the safety valves and location of same. As parking ............ making reservations a couple of days in advance is a great feature knowing you won't be driving in circles to find a place to stop and know there are showers and food at these stops.

I really enjoy reading of your adventures and hope they will continue. I've said it before but again, doubt seriously the average person on the highway has clue one about what the training required and things needed to be done to promote safety not only for the driver but for others in proximity to the rig when loading and unloading.

BTW, when you crossed into New Jersey, did you stop at Bloomsbury on I-78? If so, that isn't to far from where we lived for awhile and the exit we took going home when we had a motorhome.

Keep the reports coming. I'm living vicariously through your posts. :)
 
I'm enjoying your experiences, dpk. I don't think I've ever really thought about what a driver has to go through just to get from point A to point B.
Keep those stories coming when you have time.
 
Parked in my reserved spot. There is no way in heck I'd have gotten a space here other that reserving it and I got here at 330 in the afternoon. There are more bobtailed trucks here taking up space than full rigs. I've never seen that anywhere.

Border crossing..... I didn't know what to expect as I closed in on the Peace Bridge. My dispatcher too care of all the paperwork and the online application to cross. Just as you drive up to the bridge all trucks go into the right lane and take a hard right to a separate location from the public. It went from that single lane to, I think, four lanes. The far left was for empty trailers. The rest for anyone hauling. After finally reaching the front of my line I handed over all my paperwork and passport. After a few simple questions I was on my way. All in all it was probably about a 30 minute delay. Not bad. I hear the other direction is not quite as efficient. I'll find out tomorrow.

I took the time while stopped at the border too switch everything over to the metric system. Speedometer & GPS. The speed limit was 100kph for almost my entire route through Canada. I just set the cruise and held the wheel. All was good until I was 1.4 kilometers from my exit while riding in the left lanes. Let's just say kilometers are not the same as miles. I ran out of time to get over to exit. Damn Metric System! A 20 minute mistake.
 
Whizzer said:
BTW, when you crossed into New Jersey, did you stop at Bloomsbury on I-78? If so, that isn't to far from where we lived for awhile and the exit we took going home when we had a motorhome.
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Nope..... Only exit #4. Some truck stop.
 
Getting back into the U S of A.....

A much different process. They simply have the commercial vehicles get into the right most lane which eventually funnels out to a half dozen lanes or so. No special lane for empties like Canada. You wait your turn and then pull up to handle over your papers and passport. Then, he tells me that I need to pull over to be x-rayed. Okay..... That was unexpected. So..... I pull up into another line where eventually I'm told to pull into a particular area that has the lanes. They instruct me to pull up to the line in the center lane. After handing this guy the same papers he had me walk over in stand in some glass booth telling me to wait for a buzzer to let me know it's done. Basically they had a special truck of some sort that they drove back and forth on both sides of the truck scanning its contents. The buzzer went off and then I was back underway.
 
Eastern PA today. Stayed at the same truck stop that I stayed at last week. Something to say about familiarity. Mineral oil this trip. At ambient temperature. Not sure if that will prolong the offloading procedure or not? In any event, it's only about a 5 hour drive home so it should be an early day.
 
So..... Apparently I'm pumping the product in faster than they are able to handle the product. I've got to wait for them to pump it over to another tank. Not sure how long that will take it even how much more I have left in my tank. There's not a level gauge on these things. The only way to tell is to look inside and you can't do that under pressure.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
So..... Apparently I'm pumping the product in faster than they are able to handle the product. I've got to wait for them to pump it over to another tank. Not sure how long that will take it even how much more I have left in my tank. There's not a level gauge on these things. The only way to tell is to look inside and you can't do that under pressure.
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DPK have you hauled fuel yet? I gotta think there is a lot of paperwork with those things.
 
The old familiarity thing. Know what you mean as we always stay at the same places when we travel mostly because we know what to expect and are satisfied. I guess when all is said and done it is all a case of being comfortable with your surroundings.
 
It sounds like you have done an awesome job mastering your new career. We are on the western swing right now which is a 3 race swing... Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle. I left Sonoma after the race on Sunday night and drove 450 miles to the Seven Feathers Casino and resort in Canyonville OR. I arrived there at 5.00 Mon morning. I got about 10 miles from there and the side of the mountain right down to the interstate was in flames. Luckily it was burning to the southwest away from the Seven Feathers. The last of the flames I could see was 1 mile away from the casino and hotel. It had been burning for 5 days and it had consumed 12,000 acres already and it was only 10% contained. A lot of the teams stay there on Mon and Tue before heading on to Seattle. If you ever come out here you can have a very good buffet for only $9.99 with your CDL. I wanted to go through Portland at night so I would miss all the traffic so I left around 7.00 Mon night and stopped in Portland to get the hauler washed and then left there and arrived at the Loves travel plaza about 75 miles south of Seattle around 1.30 Tues morning. We can't park in our pit spot until 3.00 Wed afternoon so I'm just going to stay here until this evening and then fuel up and go across the street and have a nice steak dinner at the Rib Eye steak house before heading on to the track later tonight. I will just park in stacking and stay in the truck tonight and then get the rental car and check in to the hotel in the morning. Have safe travels and keep the sunny side up dpk.
 
@dpkimmel2001 , you think that one rig was long, check these out. @Nitro Dude is more than used to being around them. They're fairly nimble really. As long as the truck stop has an entry about 5 zip-codes wide.

24' box is fairly common, although definitely stretching it for 38ish feet bumper to pin, then 37ish up to 50ish from pin to bumper.

https://www.elitemotorsportsllc.com...eck-stacker-air-ride-generator-awning-loaded/

2000 Renegade Toterhome & 2000 Renegade 40′ Gooseneck Stacker, Air Ride, Generator, Awning, Loaded

knrig.png


2008 24’ RENEGADE TOTER SUPER SLIDE-$189,900
2008 53' Stacker trailer-$59,900
COMBO-$239,900

37288312_1813468575386131_2666013323069227008_o.jpg
 
Magnethead said:
@dpkimmel2001 , you think that one rig was long, check these out. @Nitro Dude is more than used to being around them. They're fairly nimble really. As long as the truck stop has an entry about 5 zip-codes wide.

24' box is fairly common, although definitely stretching it for 38ish feet bumper to pin, then 37ish up to 50ish from pin to bumper.

https://www.elitemotorsportsllc.com...eck-stacker-air-ride-generator-awning-loaded/

2000 Renegade Toterhome & 2000 Renegade 40′ Gooseneck Stacker, Air Ride, Generator, Awning, Loaded

knrig.png


2008 24’ RENEGADE TOTER SUPER SLIDE-$189,900
2008 53' Stacker trailer-$59,900
COMBO-$239,900

View attachment 41041
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Insane.
 
Special thank you to NitroDude and as always, dpk. You make this so interesting when citing your experiences across the country. I doubt it will be too long before dpk gets a few long distance hauls under his belt. Amazing the tips offered by StandonIt , NitroDude to their fellow driver. All to make his life easier. Keep the reports coming, they never get old. :)
 
Today's haul is to southern Virginia where I'll deliver tomorrow. I'll be staying at the consignee's location allowing for me to deliver first thing tomorrow morning. This time I'll be hauling a triple compartment tank. Each compartment holding the same product. The way I understand it, it'll be the separate deliveries at the same facility. It's sure to go into overtime. Alright by me..... More $'s.

I'm waiting now to get the trailer loaded. Because of the multi compartment, I'll have to move my truck to be loaded in between compartments. If they would have been two or three separate products I would have had to scale out in-between each compartment fill. As it is, I only have to do it once all the have been filled.

Side note..... This is the first time I've been asked about my fuel load. That makes me think they're going to top me off with as much as they can. The hills may be a little tougher this trip.
 
Just curious why they would want a three compartment trailer and delivered to the same location. Why not one and dump? Or maybe the three while going to the same location might be three separate drops within the same location? :idunno:
 
Probably 3 different tanks of unmetered capacity that would be hard to fill from a single compartment tanker. At least with a triple they know each tank won't overfill.
 
Yeah, I'm guessing 3 septate tanks. I'll know for sure tomorrow morning.

I just arrived and made dinner at my delivery location. I was really out behind today by a lengthy loading process. My open window for delivery starts at 7am. Because of my late arrival and my mandatory 10 hour break, I won't be able to move my truck until 7:40am. You can bet I'll be counting the seconds while watching the clock tomorrow morning. In the meantime I'm going to take in some Netflix before dozing off for the evening.

More tomorrow after I've figured out why I've got a multi compartmental tank. Until then... . Goodnight.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Yeah, I'm guessing 3 septate tanks. I'll know for sure tomorrow morning.

I just arrived and made dinner at my delivery location. I was really out behind today by a lengthy loading process. My open window for delivery starts at 7am. Because of my late arrival and my mandatory 10 hour break, I won't be able to move my truck until 7:40am. You can bet I'll be counting the seconds while watching the clock tomorrow morning. In the meantime I'm going to take in some Netflix before dozing off for the evening.

More tomorrow after I've figured out why I've got a multi compartmental tank. Until then... . Goodnight.
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How does your wife feel about your new occupation. Has she bought in?
I'm sure that she will be supportive but you definitely spend less time together no?

Upside is ...less arguments :D

I work shift work mornings and lates 6 days on 3 days off ....so me and the wife don't spend as much time together as most.
 
Clutch said:
How does your wife feel about your new occupation. Has she bought in?
I'm sure that she will be supportive but you definitely spend less time together no?

Upside is ...less arguments :D

I work shift work mornings and lates 6 days on 3 days off ....so me and the wife don't spend as much time together as most.
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Less time, yes. But.. more quality time. We do more with the time we share. Definitely different than before but we're working towards a common goal of retirement. It's all good.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Less time, yes. But.. more quality time. We do more with the time we share. Definitely different than before but we're working towards a common goal of retirement. It's all good.
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Good to hear. I didn't doubt it.
 
Well Nancy Drew, the Mystery of the Three Compartmental Tanks will go unsolved. Looks like I'm just along for the ride on this one. I just had to hold the wheel to get here as they're going to do all the offloading procedures. I still get paid the same so I think I'll just sit here and watch some more Netflix.
 
The rate you are running through Netflix could suggest you might have to sign on to another movie subscription service. Who knows, before long you could easily become the Racing Forums "go-to guy" for movie recommendations and reviews. ;)
 
Whizzer said:
The rate you are running through Netflix could suggest you might have to sign on to another movie subscription service. Who knows, before long you could easily become the Racing Forums "go-to guy" for movie recommendations and reviews. ;)
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I've got access to Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO as well. I'm covered.
 
At my delivery site in North Carolina. Spent the night at hour or so away at our High Point terminal. Couldn't find a decent place to park any closer than that

This particular location offloads everything for me. I just get to sit back and relax in the AC. They are offloading through a 3" line so I hope that it goes fairly quickly.

This load is part of what they would call a system load. Basically I'm currently out in the system or over the road. For how long I haven't a clue. What it does mean is that primarily I'll be hauling loaded tankers. They usually have you haul the empty to the closest terminal or tank wash. Then, I'll report to the closest terminal, in this case Charlotte, for my next assignment. I hope to hear South or West. Maybe even the extreme North East.

I'll update later once I know what I'm doing.
 
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